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Thursday, January 6, 2011

10-Year-Old Sexual Harassment - COTW #22

OK, by now you've already read the title. Just so we're all clear, this is not a statute of limitations case dealing with sexual harassment from ten years ago. In fact, a man in Maryland alleged that he was sexually harassed... by a ten year old female student at the public school where he used to work.

Examples of the alleged incidents of "harassment" include, inter alia: that the student in question "bumped into him three times without saying excuse me," that the student’s "forearm touched his buttocks one time," and that the student verbally harassed him when one of the student’s peers allegedly told Wilson that "[the student] said [to say] hello."

You may have guessed already... this claim isn't going anywhere. In a victory for common sense, the Court noted:

Bumping or a touching on the buttocks of a grown male by a ten-year-old girl is far more likely the attention getting action of a young child than a sexual overture.

Ya think? Prior to filing suit, the Plaintiff was terminated for refusing to work because the student wouldn't sign a "contract" which the Court described as a restraining order.

In defense of my profession's reputation, I will point out that the Plaintiff was pro se (representing himself).

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Produced by Philip Miles, an attorney with McQuaide Blasko in State College, Pennsylvania. McQuaide Blasko also has offices in Hershey and Hollidaysburg. Mr. Miles works in the firms's Litigation and Labor & Employment Law practice groups, providing legal services to employers and employees relating to human resources, employment discrimination, and other employment law issues.